The Hot House

“What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.”

~Jane Austen

At least someone is enjoying the heat wave. My petunias. Me? Not so much. It is positively hot outside…and inside, too. Our AC died last night. It was already 88 degrees at 7:30 this morning and the thermostat in the house read 84. The weatherman warned me to stay hydrated because the heat index was going to reach 105 day. That was all I needed to hear. I went to Walmart and purchased a fan to get me by until the HVAC guy could get here this afternoon. Call it overreacting or call me a wimp, I don’t care. I don’t handle humidity well. Actually, I don’t handle it at all. I learned last summer that Mississippi humidity is so different from Iowa humidity, but I moved to Mississippi from Colorado where there essentially is no humidity, so I was a just a mess. Needless to say, Elle I can have been camped out in front of the fan all day.

Alright, I admit, I put her in the chair so I could take her picture, but she was more than thrilled to be seated in front of it. I’m telling you, she LOVES this fan. She sticks her nose in the cool air and closes her eyes kind of like she does with the vent in the car. I’m sure she was quite disappointed when random smells didn’t come pouring out of it like in the car. I left the fan on high by the couch where I was reading while I ran some errands and came home to find her in front of it – where she remained all morning. What a lazy dawg. Look at that face!

Yesterday, while we still had AC, I did major overhaul on my desk. It got so out of control that I had to move to the living room floor. I took a picture to remind myself to never let my desk get buried so deep again.

Then it was on to dinner, round two of my attempt at meal planning. It was sublime. I’m not a meatloaf fan unless it is my Grandma Marcie’s. It’s the only meatloaf I’ve ever met that I actually liked. Usually, I find meatloaf gaggable. Alex loves meatloaf, so I thought I’d give it another chance in his honor. I figured it would be a good way to score major brownie points, too. I think the thing that bugs me the most about meatloaf is the consistency. It’s just mushy meat. I found a healthy recipe that had other ingredients to help break up the smoothness and give it a little more texture.

I also think meatloaf is incredibly unattractive, thus, impossible to photograph.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, add carrots and garlic to hot oil and sauté 3 to 4 minutes; cool slightly.

Combine the carrot mixture, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, turkey, and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl until blended. Shape mixture into a 10- x 5-inch loaf. Place on a rack coated with cooking spray; place rack in broiler pan coated with cooking spray. I didn’t have a broiler pan so I just put it on a cookie sheet on the top shelf. It took a little longer to cook, but worked just fine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Spread remaining 1/2 cup pasta sauce over loaf, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until a thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 155 degrees.

I served the meatloaf with smashed taters and grilled peaches jezebel. Peach season is pretty much here and the peaches in the south are amazing. The local peach farm already has a truck load for sale in the Rite Aid parking lot, so I grabbed a few. I love, love, love local. I am going to use as many peaches this summer as I possibly can.

Grilled Peaches Jezebel

1001 Ways to Cook Southern (Shelby, page 482)

Cooking spray

1/4 cup honey

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp horseradish

6 firm, ripe peaches, halved

Coat a cold cooking grate of grill with cooking spray, and place on grill. Preheat grill to 300 to 350 degrees (medium heat). Whisk together first 3 ingredients. Brush half of honey mixture evenly over cut sides of peaches.

Arrange peach halves, cut sides up, on cooking grate; grill, covered with grill lid, 3 minutes on each side or until tender and golden. Remove from grill, and brush cut sides of peaches evenly with remaining honey mixture.

Alex loved the meatloaf (minus all the grease and mush!!) and SO DID I! <– best part. It’s a keeper fo sho. The peaches were amazing fresh off the grill. They were warm and so comforting. Actually, the entire dinner was very comforting. I felt fat full and happy after I cleaned my plate. Elle licked her plate, too. I can just hear both our mothers scolding us for letting her do this…

It’s Thai Food Friday (!!!) and we’re going out for Thai tonight. We’re getting a little lazy with the Thai cooking, but they do it so well at Bann Thai. Here’s a recipe for you. Sadly, I do not have a photograph for you as I made this long before I discovered my addiction to phood photography. You’ll love this one, I promise. It is easy to make and very light – just in case it is hot where you are, too!

In a small bowl, mash black beans, ginger, garlic and sugar together to form a smooth paste. Using a large skillet, add oil. Fry the black bean mixture on medium high heat until fragrant (about 30 seconds).

Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and stir until cornstarch is dissolved. Add to black bean mixture and bring to a full boil stirring constantly until thickened.

NOTE: This recipe makes 8 oz, and the recipe above calls for 4 oz.

Welp, I suppose that’ll be all for today! The AC is back up and running and we’re down to 80 degrees!! (I’m still glued to my fan, though.) I’m off to make a peach cobbler before Alex gets home. Have a wonderful Friday, ya’ll!

Welcome

Hi, I'm Emily. Welcome to the Adventures of A&E! I am a military wife, mama to Owen & Della, photographer, self-proclaimed shopaholic, and food aficionado. This blog documents our adventures in travel, healthy living, fashion, food, family and friends as we strive to find a balance in our busy and ever-changing lives. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…